A place for a tired old woman to try to figure things out so that the world makes a bit of sense.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Tempest In A Crock Pot

File this post under "Howler." I don't remember the last time I laughed loudly enough to scare my cats under the bed. Here's the skinny:

Campbell Soup Co., the Camden, N.J., food giant, has been fighting a grass-roots boycott of its products after its Canadian subsidiary rolled out a line of soups certified as halal, meaning they're prepared according to Islamic dietary laws. ...

The halal soups, designated with a special label, are available only in Canada. The company has no plans to offer a similar line in the United States, said John Faulkner, a company spokesman.

That boycott is being led by Pam Geller, the libertoonian blogger at Atlas Shrugs. (I could have posted a link, but I really didn't think it worth the effort.) She claims to object not to the halal designation but rather to Campbell's use of the halal certifying group ISNA, a group she claims is linked to Hamas, the Holy Land Foundation, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

ISNA has denied any ties to Hamas or to officials of a defunct charity called Holy Land Foundation, who were convicted in the conspiracy case. It has specifically condemned religious extremism and violence. In the wake of the conspiracy trial, Jewish and Protestant organizations issued statements in support of ISNA. ...

Boycotting a company is, in my opinion, a perfectly legitimate political action, one that I have participated in several times in my life time. Generally, however, boycotts are based on facts about the company that justify the action, something of which Ms. Geller is apparently unaware if in fact she really only has it in for ISNA as a terrorist-supporting organization. Whether her motives are pure or not, however, her followers appear to have joyfully leaped into rank Islamaphobia.

Here's the kicker, however, the punchline, if you will:

Faulkner said Campbell hasn't noticed any effect on its sales since the boycott began.